Ink jet printers continue to be improved as the technology for making the printheads continues to advance. New techniques are constantly being developed to provide low cost, highly reliable printers which approach the speed and quality of laser printers. An added benefit of ink jet printers is that color images can be produced at a fraction of the cost of laser printers with as good or better quality than laser printers. All of the foregoing benefits exhibited by ink jet printers have also increased the competitiveness of suppliers to provide comparable printers in a more cost efficient manner than their competitors.
As advances are made in print quality and speed, a need arises for an increased number of ejection devices on the surface of the semiconductor substrate. There is also a desire to provide substrates that can eject more than one color ink. Multi-color ink substrates require multiple feed slots for providing different color inks to the associated ejection devices. Having multiple slots in a semiconductor substrate often weakens the substrate. In order to increase the strength of the substrate, the slots are often spaced-apart an amount sufficient to provide more substrate structure between the slots. However, increasing the spacing between the slots requires additional substrate area which increases the cost of the printheads. Thus, there continues to be a need for improved manufacturing processes and techniques which provide improved printhead components that can be provided at a lower cost.